Got beef? Hong Kong rugby player Bryn Phillips launches sustainably farmed meat company

The 27-year-old scrum half, a national team player for three years, launches the business during long break because of Covid-19

Phillips says part of the idea is to offer rugby players and other athletes another option when it comes to Hong Kong’s outsourced meat industry

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Hong Kong Rugby Union player Bryn Phillips launched his own company after struggling to find high-quality meat in Hong Kong. Photo: Xiaomei Chen

Published: 8:00am, 13 Nov 2020Updated: 11:04pm, 13 Nov 2020

When it comes to his target audience, Bryn Phillips doesn’t have to look far for potential customers.

The Hong Kong Rugby Union player just launched a sustainably farmed meat company, sourcing from the United Kingdom and his family farm in Wales, and he’s already got thousands of potential buyers eagerly awaiting.

“I think the average rugby player consumes at least 2,500 calories a day,” said Phillips, who has been a part of the HKRU’s national programme for three years. “So that’s about two grams of protein for every kilo of body weight. So me weighing around 85 kilos, I’m looking for around 170 grams of protein a day. But the boys who are around the 110 or 120 mark, they’re looking to be pushing about 200 grams of protein a day.”

Phillips, 27, who started the company with brother Iwan, got the idea a few years ago when he moved to the city, but then found he had some extra time on his hands earlier this year when rugby came to a screeching halt due to the coronavirus.

Bryn Phillips, who plays for Kowloon, said he wanted to start a meat company given the lack of sustainably raised options in the city. Photo: HKRU

Elite Meat Co. offers grass fed beef, free range chicken, grassland lamb and a host of other meats from what are known as “regeneratively farmed” sources.